tonight, terror trail. investigators link the suspect the boston bomber to overseas militants. did these known terrorists inspire that older brother? speaking out. the abc news exclusive interview with the nba player who stirred the nation by going public, saying he's gay. caffeine craze. everything from chewing gum to popcorn, packed with caffeine. how much is safe for children? and amanda knox, the american college student, accused of murder, speaking out. the devastating lie she says she was told in prison, and what she said made her suffer. >> i was tired of them having to sacrifice everything for me. everything.

good evening. we begin with something new in the case of the boston bombings. abc news has learned investigators believe they have located a possible seed bed of extremism. a mosque overseas, and two men, radical militants, who may have inspired the older brother to pull off that attack. abc's chief investigative correspondent, brian ross, has the latest details and the new clues. >> reporter: u.s. authorities now believe a turning point for tamerlan tsarnaev came last year in the russian republic of dagestan, at this mosque known to be a gathering spot for extremists. russian security services have told their american counterparts the boston resident was seen meeting and leaving from the mosque with a known chechen terror recruiter, mansur nidal, who was killed in a stand-off with authorities while tsarnaev was in dagestan. the chechen insurgency is part

of a larger violent group that has used a reign of terror in its efforts to impose islamic law and values across portions of russia. who moved to dagestan earlier and became part of the chechen terror group. plotnikov was killed by russian authorities in july of last year. tsarnaev last the country two days later for boston. russian authorities asked the u.s. to investigate tsarnaev two years ago, but did not provide specific new details until after the marathon attack. president obama said today he's asked for a full intelligence review of what happened, but defended the performance of american law enforcement. >> based on what i've seen so far, the fbi performed what it's

supposed to be doing, but this is hard stuff. >> they're investigating whether friends or relatives knowingly or unknowingly helped dispose of evidence in the days after the bombing. they're among the individuals the fbi still calls persons of interest. >> thank you, brian. and we saw the president in brian's piece. but he also weighed in on a lot of other subjects in a wide-ranging press conference today, taking some tough questions, including from our own chief white house correspondent, jonathan karl. >> reporter: president obama had a clear message for the american people today. there will be no rush to military action in syria. for one thing, the evidence is incomplete. >> what we now have is evidence that chemical weapons have been used inside of syria, but we don't know how they were used, when they were used, who used them. >> reporter: on the domestic

front, the president is only 100 days into his second term, and he has already faced a string of defeats in congress on guns and -- >> do you still have the juice to get the rest of your agenda through this congress? >> well, if you put it that way, jonathan, maybe i should just pack up and go home. golly, as mark twain said, you know, rumors of my demise may be a little exaggerated at this point. >> reporter: the problem, he said, is with congress. >> jonathan, you seem to suggest that somehow these folks over there have no responsibilities, and that my job is to somehow get them to behave. that's their job. >> reporter: after today's press conference, a senior white house official told me the real source of the president's juice is the american people. and on the big issue this white house believes, big issues like guns, immigration, and the budget, public opinion is with the president and that that will ultimately get congress to act. >> jon, thanks to you and the

president also weighed in on that historic personal announcement, jason collins, now the first openly gay team athlete playing in pro sport. the president said he spoke to him, telling him he couldn't be prouder, and abc's george stephanopoulos spoke to jason collins at an abc news exclusive. >> reporter: can you believe it hasn't happened before you? >> that's kind of mind-boggling. i never set out to be the first. and it is you know, obviously, you know, you're sort of waiting around for somebody else to, you know, raise your -- raise their hand, and, you know, i'm ready to raise my hand, but, you know, you still look around like, "okay, come on guys." >> reporter: you always knew you were gay? >> yeah. i sort of describe it as, you know that the sky is blue, but you keep telling yourself that it's red. >> reporter: so you fought it? >> yes. in the beginning. i think they call it, like, the 12 steps. you know, you go through anger, denial, and all you know, it's just -- but when you finally get to the point of acceptance, there's nothing more beautiful.

and just allowing yourself to, you know, really be happy and be comfortable in your own skin. >> reporter: what do you say to the 12-year-old boy who's out there practicing right now, wants to be a pro ballplayer, and happens to be gay? >> keep working hard. it shouldn't matter. and it doesn't matter what your -- that you know that you're gay. but, the key thing is that it's about basketball. it's about working hard. >> as you may have heard, collins wore the number 98 on his jersey on honor matthew shepherd who was beaten and killed in 1998 because he was gay. and today we heard from matthew's mother who said she's touched that jason would honor her son that way. and next, the big news tonight out of the housing market. home prices surging up 9.3%, the biggest jump in seven years.

so is it time to buy? abc's chief business and economics correspondent rebecca jarvis spent the day talking to the experts. >> right now it is a very competitive market. >> reporter: two weeks into the hunt for their first home in san diego, and the robinsons can already see it won't be easy. >> in just the few homes that we have looked at, they have sold in a few days. >> reporter: today's study confirms home prices are up, especially in hot markets like phoenix, las vegas, los angeles, san francisco, atlanta, and dallas. the problem, a nationwide housing shortage. there there are lots of buyers, 25% more this year than last. but the number of homes for sale is actually down. >> most homes are selling within three to five days. >> reporter: some are taking drastic measures, bidding wars are common. >> it's a hot property.

it will go quickly. >> reporter: so are personal liter alerts appealing to sellers. there are even lotteries, like this one, buyers line up, throw their names in a hat and hope for the best. >> the sellers are being romanced. pretty, pretty, pretty, please. what can i do to win your property? we polled our panel of housing experts, is this the beginning of a healthy boom or another bubble? the consensus, prices will keep rising this year and no fears of a bubble just yet. >> i would buy a house right now if i were starting out again and wanted a home. >> reporter: but shiller and others caution to beware of the frenzy in hot markets where bidding wars are breaking out. the robin sons, like many others, may need to lower their expectations if they want to buy this year. >> we're looking at a lot of houses and trying not to get attached because there's a good chance someone else's offer is

going to be accepted. >> reporter: this house behind me wasn't even on the market when it sold. the broker said he's done 12 deals in just the past two months. >> that's fast. thank you, rebecca. now health news tonight from noul. a two and a half-year-old girl born without a wind pipe now has an artificial trachea grown from her own stem cells. little hannah is the first child to get an artificial trachea without donor cells. and for a nation of people starved for energy, news tonight about a jolt of caffeine with, say, your popcorn. a new food group getting reaction from federal experts. normal snacks like popcorn, candy, even gum, infused with caffeine. david kerley shows us why some people are wary.

>> reporter: they promise to double your pleasure, but now wrigley wants to give you a kick of caffeine. alert -- a new chewing gum. one piece equals a half cup of coffee. just the latest food product with added caffeine. a bag of cracker jack treats, equal to a cup of coffee. jelly belly sports beans -- a half cup. and how about biofuel popcorn? caffeine infused. >> why are companies doing this? >> the food industry is always searching around for unoccupied niches. adding caffeine to a snack food. they advertise it keeps you alert. >> reporter: it used to be just our morning coffee or tea, or a cola, that gave us that pick-me-up buzz. but the success of energy drinks is now spreading the sprinkling of caffeine. >> it's the total lack of control by some safety agency that's really of concern. >> reporter: but tonight, the food and drug administration is jumping in, saying it has only approved added caffeine "for cola and that was in the 1950s," adding it's worried "children

and adolescents may be exposed to caffeine." so it is "taking a fresh look" at these new sources of caffeine. experts we talked to say children should have as little caffeine as possible. >> it's too easy for them to get and eat, they can overconsume it, resulting in things like heart palpitations. >> reporter: food makers say these products are only marketed to adults. but some of these foods appear as candy, and could be enticing to youngsters. so the government says, if it needs to take action, it will. david kerley, abc news, washington. and we have a note tonight about the eternal flame at john f. kennedy's grave at arlington national cemetery. workers this week used a torch to move the flame, carrying it off to a temporary burner. it will stay there on view for tourists for about three weeks while new gas lines and burners are installed in the original location. and still ahead right here on "world news," our exclusive interview with amanda knox,

something devastating she says happened during her 1,400 nights in prison. see life in the best light. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. visit your eyecare professional today to ask about our newest lenses, transitions vantage and transitions xtractive lenses. experience life well lit. ask which transitions adaptive lens is best for you. i had[ designer ]eeling enough of just covering up my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone --

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if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello? ally bank. your money needs an ally. now more from amanda knox, the american college student, convicted then acquitted of murder in italy. and tonight, facing the possibility of still another trial.

she's written a book that comes out today. later tonight in our one-hour special, we're going to tell you what she says about that strange behavior after the murder, the video kissing her boyfriend, the report that she did cart wheels at the police station. but next the devastating lie she was told during all those years during an italian prison. >> capanne prison, 500 prisoners, in a tiny room, a 22-year-old american girl sentenced to 26 years, said at night she could hear women wailing in their cells. >> you wrote, i felt as if i were being sealed into a tomb. >> yeah. and the took was my life. it wasn't the prison. it was my life. >> did you think about suicide? >> i did. >> she writes she considered cutting her wrists in the shower or swallowing bleach. she says she had panic attacks, began to lose her hair. and one day a doctor called her

in to say he had more bad news. they had analyzed the blood sample from the day she arrived. >> and the doctor told me that i had tested positive for hiv. i was stunned. i went back to my room with one of the prison officials telling me, well, you should have thought about it before you had sex with all those people. >> she made a list of the seven sexual encounters of her life. >> and they leaked it? >> they leaked it to the media. >> afterwards, incredibly, they tell knox it was all just a mistake. she wasn't hiv-positive after all. she writes that what will save her in prison are small acts of humanity. and visits from the family she loved, who mortgaged their homes and traveled 6,000 miles to be near her. >> i felt incredibly guilty for what they were having to sacrifice for me. and there was a certain point in my -- in my thinking in prison

that if it didn't work out and i never was free again, i was trying to figure out how i could ask them to move on with their life without me. because i was tired of them having to sacrifice everything for me. everything. >> it is a riveted story. and as we said, there will be so much more tonight in our one-hour special, murder mystery, amanda knox speaks, tonight 10:00 p.m. eastern, an abc news exclusive. and coming up next here, a 50-year record shattered. the beatles dethroned, a song, a

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outdoors. the door goes up, she can hardly wait, but some jitters, as she clings to her surrogate dad, wide-eyed. she assesses a tree trunk, not ready to climb that yet. eventually brave enough to take a piggy back ride with surrogate dad. and a royal changing of the guards in the netherlands. queen bee tris stepping down. fighting back tears, she introduced him as the new king, the first dutch king in 123 years, his 9-year-old daughter amalia, next in line to the throne. beatrice who was seen riding her bicycle around town, will be known as princess beatrice. and we saw prince charles in that crowd today and had to wonder what he was thinking. and from royalty to rock royalty, the beatles. well, for 50 years, their album, the longest running debut album at the top of the charts.

62 consecutive weeks in the top ten. but tonight the record has been smashed by this -- ♪ next to me ♪ >> her album, 63 weeks on in the top ten in the uk. the former medical student turned musician said the beatles was the best band of all times. and the $2 million rv, a $175,000 decked out car. why the rich and criminal are making all of us a bit happier tonight. reat my low testosteron, my doctor and i went with axiron, the only underarm low t treatment. axiron can restore t levels to normal in about 2 weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant

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and finally tonight, a glimpse of the lives of the rich and infamous criminals to get around in private jets and luxury yachts. but when they get caught, can their victims get the swank spoils? >> $250,000. >> reporter: a beautiful quarter horse. one of more than 300 for sale, but this is not your typical auction. this one is being coordinated by the u.s. marshals. the horses were owned by this krumt city bookkeeper. rita crundwell embezzled $50 million from dixon, illinois, taxpayers. typical of the lifestyles of the rich and infamous. at any given moment, the u.s. marshals are managing $4 billion in assets from the nation's worst convicted criminals. proceeds go to pay victims and fund police. check out this marshals car auction in ohio. some of the nation's biggest criminals have great taste, like the crook who owned this classic

1963, split-window corvette, valued at $75,000. love this car. as for the taste of other alleged criminals, i'm not so sure. this is the hulk mobile. a drug dealer spent $175,000 turning this car into a monster. power hood, power trunk, tvs everywhere. >> it's all about the money. >> reporter: it's not just classic cars. we're talking yachts, a $2 million rv, extravagant jewelry, even a diamond studded sponge bob. here's the secret hangar where the government stores confiscated airplanes. >> comfortably seat up to eight people and have the tvs throughout, the small monitors. nice wet bar. >> reporter: lifestyles of the rich and infamous. pierre thomas, abc news, fort worth, texas. >> so glad you were watching. be sure to join me for ur one-hour special at 10:00 p.m. eastern tonight. murder, mystery, amanda knox speaks.

an abc news exclusive. and i'll see you again tomorrow night right here. goodnight. "wheel's" in new york.

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